Jahira Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y.) may be having the best all-around year – or career – for any Lady Knights basketball player in CCRI history. She is currently ranked no. 4 in NJCAA Division II basketball in assists with 4.3 per game. Smith is also ranked in two other categories nationally, at no. 24 in assists with 4.7 per game and no. 28 in scoring with 17.1 points per game. In her freshman campaign, she shattered the CCRI single-season steals with 128 steals. Before semester break this year, Smith had already surpassed Denise Scott’s mark of 162 with relative ease. From there she has simply put that mark out of reach and is the only Lady Knight to ever register over 200 steals for her career. Smith currently has 209 steals for her career. In her freshman year, she also set the single-season assist record with 183. In Smith’s next game she will likely break the CCRI career assists record of 274. Smith has 273 so far in her career. But there are also two more records clearly in her sights before the end of the season. With 156 career free throws, Smith needs to make 28 more to surpass Jerilynn Johnson who had 183 for her career. Smith has 827 career points and with just 23 more she will pass Johnson on the all-time scoring list with 850 points. The Lady Knights have eight regular season games left, and if she scores 130 points or 16.25 points per game she will move into the No. 1 spot on the CCRI all-time scoring list, surpassing Amanda Ward who scored 965 during the 2003-05 seasons.

On the men’s side, Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.) has had an excellent sophomore campaign for the Knights. He is currently ranked No. 6 in scoring by the NJCAA in Division II basketball, averaging 22.3 points per game. In the process, he has moved into fifth place on the CCRI all-time scoring list with an excellent week last week. He came into the week with 1,029 career points and ranked 11th on the CCRI scoring list. In the Knights’ game versus the Wyverns of Quinsigamond Community College from Worcester, Mass., Williams scored 17 points to move past Bob Brooks (1,032), Greg Simoneau (1,036), current CCRI assistant coach, Pat Dame (1,040) and Doug Haynes (1,043). Going into the game versus Division I power Globe institute, Williams had 1,046 points and was ranked No. 7 on the CCRI all-time list. He dropped 31, moving him into the top five with 1,077 career points. Williams can move into the four spot with just 62 points to pass Willie Washington who has 1,138 career points. The Knights have nine regular season games left, though, and the Knights will need to make a run in the postseason if Williams is to score 264 points to surpass Rick Santos in the No. 3 spot on the scoring list with 1,340 career points.

Marchand’s tip lead Knights over Globe

The CCRI Knights traveled to the Bronx, N.Y. to take on Division I Knights of Globe Institute. The Knights of CCRI came away with a thrilling 96-94 victory. With the victory, CCRI improved to 13-8 on the season.

The game was a tight match-up between two athletic, high-scoring teams. CCRI used its full-court pressure defense and a couple of three-point bombs by sophomore captain Steve Bevilacqua (Exeter) to pull away to a 44-38 halftime lead. The second half was truly a great half of basketball, as the teams stayed within six points of each other the entire half.

CCRI's trio of Bevilacqua and sophomore captains Williams and Bryan Yarce (Cranston) traded baskets with Globe's outside scoring tandem of Tom Moore and Devon Walker on each possession. CCRI scored on a putback layup by freshman Pat Marchand (Cranston) to go ahead 96-92 with 10 seconds left in the game, but fouled Globe’s Tim Jackson on a three-point attempt with 5.9 seconds on the clock. Jackson hit two of three free throws to bring the lead to two points at 96-94.

CCRI was fouled on their final possession but missed both free throws, but luckily CCRI forced a missed Globe shot in the last second to secure the victory. CCRI's win was their first this season over a Division I opponent. The Knights have arguably the toughest NJCAA DII schedule in the country, with seven Division I teams on it.

The Knights host Roxbury Community College from Roxbury, Mass. on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse. The game can also be seen on Cox On Demand throughout the month.

No. 11 Lady Knights crush Colts

The No. 11 CCRI Lady Knights basketball team hosted the Colts of Orange County Community College from Middletown, N.Y. on Saturday. The Lady Knights defeated the Colts 88-32. With the victory, the Lady Knights improved to 17-2 on the season.

The Lady Knights dominated the game from the beginning and took a 42-24 lead into halftime. CCRI kicked its defensive pressure up a notch in the second half and limited the Colts to just eight second half points as they cruised to the victory.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Lexi Barros (New Bedford, Mass.) with 18 points, six rebounds, eight assists and six steals. Smith charted a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds while adding eight steals, and seven assists. Also helping the Lady Knights was Moe Plummer (Fairfield, Conn.) with 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists, and Nyjah Porcher (New Britain, Conn.) scored 15 points with nine rebounds.

The Lady Knights are back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they host the Lions of Nassau Community College at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse located on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.